Winnipeg Jets showed heart deep in the heart of Texas

Mar 24, 2014; Dallas, TX, USA; Winnipeg Jets right wing Blake Wheeler (26) is injured during the third period against the Dallas Stars at the American Airlines Center. The Stars defeated the Jets 2-1. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

SAN JOSE, Calif. — There were two moments in Monday’s 2-1 loss to the Dallas Stars when members of the Winnipeg Jets bounced back from tough situations and showed a never-say-die attitude.

One was much more painful than the other.

The best example of leadership came from winger Blake Wheeler, who looked like he had his internal organs rearranged when he took a hit from Colton Sceviour — only to have the bench door fly open. The problem was Wheeler was moving parallel to the boards and not perpendicularly, so it was kind of like when you’re not paying attention while walking down the street and you run into a parking meter.

Except Wheeler was going a lot faster than that. The play happened with less than five minutes to go in the third period, and it wouldn’t have been surprising if the next time we saw Wheeler was next season. Yet there he was in the final minutes, roaring down the ice as the Jets tried to tie the game.

The Jets didn’t make Wheeler available to the media after the game, but his coach and his teammates were impressed by the Minnesota native’s grit and determination. Paul Maurice believed Wheeler’s perseverance spoke to something even bigger than just coming back from injury.

“Those are the things that you can hang your hat on as a group going forward,” Maurice said. “You got a guy who takes a hit like that, that’s hurting the way he is, and he comes back on the bench and gives you jump and goes down the wall hard.

“With that record (two wins in 11 games), you’re wondering why the coach is staying so positive about what he sees. Because I know that that’s the foundation of being a good team. I know that’s how you gotta get there. You’ve gotta get them on board and believing and caring and competing and right now we’ve played better than our results.”

Centre Bryan Little couldn’t believe that Wheeler was back on the ice in the dying minutes.

“The whole bench kind of gasped when he was down on the ice,” Little said. “It looked pretty painful, and it looked pretty bad on the replay. Hopefully it’s not too serious, and he can be back next game.”

The Jets didn’t practise on Tuesday, so Wheeler’s status won’t be known until Wednesday when they return to the ice.

The other situation on Monday night wasn’t painful, but it sure was odd, as the Stars tried to steal Little’s stick. In fact, they did steal Little’s stick in what was one of the strangest plays of Winnipeg’s season.

Little got tangled up with an unidentified Stars defenceman in the third period, and his stick ended up in the blue-liner’s hands. Not only did the defenceman not drop Little’s stick, but he took it with him to the Dallas bench and sat down. Like Wheeler’s return to the game, Little couldn’t believe that was happening, either.

“The ref was right there, and I asked him, ‘What, what, what is that? Like, is that a penalty?’ He didn’t really say anything to me. He just kind of shrugged it off,” Little said. “I was like OK, I guess that’s allowed now.”

It wasn’t until the next whistle that the Stars trainers passed the stick down the bench and returned it to the Jets.

“I was checking it quite a bit for breaks or I don’t know what they did to it,” Little said, “but it worked.”

Work it did, as Little scored Winnipeg’s only goal of the game a few minutes later on a rebound off an Evander Kane shot from the point.

The Jets, who are seven points out of a playoff spot with nine games to go, have even more to overcome, as they have just two wins in their last 11 games and will continue their five-game road trip against the San Jose Sharks (Thursday), L.A. Kings (Saturday) and Anaheim Ducks (Monday).

Those teams were a combined 72 games over a .500 points percentage going into Tuesday’s action.

Winnipeg Jets showed heart deep in the heart of Texas

SAN JOSE, Calif. — There were two moments in Monday’s 2-1 loss to the Dallas Stars when members of the Winnipeg Jets bounced back from tough situations and showed a never-say-die attitude.

One was much more painful than the other.

The best example of leadership came from winger Blake Wheeler, who looked like he had his internal organs rearranged when he took a hit from Colton Sceviour — only to have the bench door fly open. The problem was Wheeler was moving parallel to the boards and not perpendicularly, so it was kind of like when you’re not paying attention while walking down the street and you run into a parking meter.

Except Wheeler was going a lot faster than that. The play happened with less than five minutes to go in the third period, and it wouldn’t have been surprising if the next time we saw Wheeler was next season. Yet there he was in the final minutes, roaring down the ice as the Jets tried to tie the game.